


The Golden Eyed Girl

by Aniaraaa



Category: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, RWBY
Genre: Afterlife, Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hell, Hell Trauma, Hurt/Comfort, Past Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Past Lives, Past Torture, Past Violence, Reincarnation, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:41:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29930151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aniaraaa/pseuds/Aniaraaa
Summary: In the events preceding this story, Amara was killed, reincarnated as gb Dr. Merlot's daughter/lab rat named Zaya, and subjected to technologically accelerated growth. Salem rescued her from Dr. Merlot's lab, and adopted her as her daughter. The memories of her past lives were starting to come back in the form of disorienting flashbacks and nightmares. From what she was told, she knew she had past lives, and that she used to be called Amara, but she remembered few details.This story tells how she got a lot of her memories back, with more soon to follow now that the floodgates have been opened.
Relationships: Gretchen Rainart & Original Female Character, Gretchen Rainart & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	The Golden Eyed Girl

Zaya, daughter of Salem, stands on the edge of Mountain Glenn. MEGLR, her grenade-launching robot, is by her side. Alef, her flying bunny Grimm, is perched on her shoulder.

Puddles of black bile stain the ground. 24 fresh Grief Seeds are in the Magical Girl's purse, harvested from Gehðubled that she watched and tended as Familiars in her previous life. She doesn't remember tending them, but in her past life she told MEGLR that they were here.

They were not easy kills. Zaya's aura is low, and she is battered and bloody. Black and purple bruising surrounds her left eye.

She's about to go back to her ship and fly home to the Whale, but then she senses something. Magic? Or instinct? She's not sure, but it's coming from the ruins of Mountain Glenn.

"Get behind me and stay close," she says to MEGLR and Alef, and walks to the ruins.

Followed by her companions, she goes down a street flanked by half-gutted buildings. Through an alley. Into what used to be an enclosed garden, now just empty trellises and plant boxes. The ground is dotted with wild higanbana flowers.

Across the garden to a low block of stone, and a small dollhouse-like structure on four legs, just a few inches taller than herself. A memorial shrine.

The Magical Girl kneels down to examine the inscription. She knows it's a name, but she can't read it. She gently runs her fingers along the cool stone, feeling the indentations of the letters, like old scars. She stands and gazes at the mini-house. Inside are brittle flowers. Tsubaki, their once blood red petals now dried to a dark gray.

"Amara-chan."

The Magical girl turns to the soft, kind voice. A girl in a white dress is standing right beside her. Thick, wavy, dark brown hair frames the girl's young, olive-skinned face. Bright golden eyes gaze lovingly at Zaya...at Amara. She knows she went by Amara in her past lives. But she doesn't remember why.

The girl can't be much older than Amara's apparent physical age. Much too young to be here, in a desolate ruin, home only to monsters. She tilts her head and smiles.

"Please don't be too angry at Hazel, Amara-chan," says the golden-eyed girl earnestly.

The daughter of Salem gasps, her violet eyes widening. "H-Hazel? Why? What did he do?"

The other giggles, a sound like precious jewels tinkling against each other in a breeze. "From your perspective, nothing yet. But he will."

She places a warm hand against Amara's cheek, her smile undying. "He's going to do something that might upset you. But he also saves Emerald's life. So please try to take the good with the bad. It's okay to be angry, but don't bury the fondness you felt for him so deeply that you can't find it again. Please? For me?"

"Do I know you?" Amara breathes in a high-pitched whisper, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Should I remember you?"

The girl brushes Amara's hair from her eyes, sadness touching her angelic features. "I said those same words to you so many times. I'm so sorry, Amara-chan. I can help you remember, if you'll let me. It will hurt. A lot. You won't remember everything all at once. A lot, but not everything, until you're ready. And I'll be right here, even when you can't see me or hear me."

She takes Amara's hand in both of hers. "May I?"

Amara studies her attentive, loving eyes, and nods solemnly. "Please. Yes."

The golden eyed girl also nods. Then leans down and tenderly kisses the Soul Gem on Amara's hand.

The Gem and Amara's eyes glow with bright purple light. The violet eyed girl inhales sharply. Tears well up and spill over her lids. Memories pour through her like lava from deep within the earth. This girl...Amara tried and failed to save her. To stop her from attending Beacon in the first place. To save her when a training mission here in Mountain Glenn went bad. She bled out and died in Amara's arms. Images burn themselves onto the screen of the Magical Girl's psyche, and remain.

"Gretchen!"

Gretchen's countenance sparkles, her eyes gleaming with bittersweet joy. "Mhm! I'm so sorry for all the times I didn't remember you. I remember now, Amara-chan. I know /everything/ you did to protect me, every time I came back. I'm sorry for not listening. For being stupid. But I'm okay now. Better than okay. I promise."

Amara's lips tremble, her visage a mask of pain. "Gretchen. Please don't come back. You're too pure for this cursed world."

Gretchen's hands move to caress Amara's wet cheeks, brushing away her tears. "I can't promise that. It's possible I might come back one day. But if I do, I'll remember everything. And I'll be the one protecting you."

Amara grimaces in anguish, sobbing. She collapses, her body folding like a building undergoing demolition. Gretchen catches her in her arms, and kneels on the ground, holding her.

The Magical girl curls up, shuddering and weeping, her head on Gretchen's lap. She can feel the golden eyed girl's fingers running softly through her raven hair. The memories come quickly now. Incomplete, like patchwork. But individual pieces are coherent enough. She feels like her soul is being ripped to pieces and sewn back together. She knows who and what she is now.

She's still Zaya. The feral little girl who scavenged like an animal in the ruins of Mantle, searching for scraps of tech to exchange for scraps of praise. The girl who silently endured Dr. Merlot's cruel, painful tests. The girl who drank hot cocoa with Ms. Emerald, learned from her how to pickpocket, and ran to her for cuddles when she was frightened. The girl who was rescued from the lab by Salem, her new adoptive mother, with whom she felt an instant connection.

But she's not /only/ that girl. She's lived more lives than she imagined was possible. She remembers being tricked and cursed by Ozma-kami in the shape of a white weasel-cat-thing. Killing Gehðubled, demonic manifestations of despair, and being killed by them. Violently and painfully. Being an enforcer in Ozma-kami's holy war to unite the world. Gouging out heretics' Silver eyes with eager brutality.

Learning the awful truth about Magical Girls. Deep regret and self-loathing for her cruelty. Defecting from Ozma. On her own, still forced by her curse to kill Gehðubled and harvest Grief Seeds. Being targeted as a 'Witch' and 'demon child.' Murdered by superstitious mobs and abusive parents at a young age. Burned at the stake. Bound to an altar, ritually cut into pieces, and served as Holy Communion to a congregation of smiling, upstanding churchgoers. The physical and spiritual agony of turning into a Gehðubled when her magical energy runs out or she falls into despair. Gradually learning to trust a few select loved ones in each life. Entrusting them with her secret, and the task of mercy killing her if the worst happens.

During the long siege of Atlas, meeting Ozma’s ancient enemy, Salem. Coming to love and admire her. Coming to believe it’s possible to kill the twin ‘gods’ who cursed both Salem and herself. A long internal struggle, and then finally joining Salem, with the pledge that she’s committed to liberation from the ‘gods.’ Discovering that nearness to Salem mitigates her curse. Within a city-wide radius of Salem, if her Soul Gem goes dark, she turns into a Doppel temporarily, instead of a Gehðubled permanently until death. Rejoicing. Committing violent crimes, some of which she’s not proud of, but liberation is paramount.

Her own recent execution. Agony. Screams. Incoherent pleas for mercy. Empty eye sockets bleeding onto the snow. Her Soul Gem shattered. Darkness. Shivering in a cold, dank afterlife antechamber. Slowly devoured by the brother of darkness, a dragon who savors her accumulated impurities, her torment and despair, like a gourmet. The empty husk that remains is cast away like garbage, to languish in Nirarbuda Naraka, a freezing hellish realm. Her skin covered by burst blisters, and frozen blood and pus. Until, back on Remnant, her Soul Gem reforms and finds a new mother.

Dr. Merlot’s lab. Life as a test subject and scavenger, desperate for mother Merlot's approval. Rescue and adoption by Salem. Her new, current life. A fresh start, with an immortal protector, but still subject to the same crippling curse. Still bound to the same ancient cycle.

The Magical Girl groans despairingly as all this washes through her. "Will I ever be free? Will it ever end?"

Gretchen holds her hand. Leans down and kisses her cheek. "Yes, Amara-chan. Where I am, linear time doesn't exist. You're already here with me in the Pure Land."

"How?! And how long?!" Amara wails, clutching Gretchen's hand tightly.

Gretchen hums softly. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to interfere directly. Just hold on a little longer, and remember I'm always with you. Can you do that for me?"

Amara whimpers tearfully. "I'll. I'll try. Gretchen."

"Good girl." The golden eyed girl squeezes her and strokes her hair.

Amara lies in Gretchen's warm, soothing embrace, crying softly, until she drifts into a deep sleep.

Hours later, she awakens. It is night. Alef is curled up in her arms, making small sleepy bunny noises. She sits up, her hand scratching Alef behind the ears. The ground around her is covered in pure white feathers. The Magical Girl shakes feathers from her hair, and gently brushes them from her clothes.

Her grenade-launching robot stands nearby keeping watch. She beeps excitedly. "Creator Zaya is awake! How is she doing?"

"I'm...okay, thank you, MEGLR," the Magical Girl says, blinking the sleep from her violet eyes. "And...please call me Amara now. Though I think I'll keep Zaya as my middle name."

MEGLR beeps even more excitedly. "Has creator Amara regained her memories?"

Amara puts Alef on her shoulder and pets her. "Not everything. But a lot. There are still gaps, even about recent things. But I remember Ozma, and my curse. And mom."

She looks around. "And Gretchen Rainart. Did you...see where she went?"

MEGLR pauses. "MEGLR saw creator Amara talking, but no other was visible to MEGLR. Only the shower of feathers from the sky."

Amara frowns slightly. "Perhaps my mind just showed me what I needed to see. And hear, and feel. And the feathers..."

She picks up a single feather, then stands somberly, touching it to her lips. "I unknowingly summon flowers when I'm emotional. Why not feathers too?"

"Possible, creator Amara," chirps the robot. "But creator Amara was clearly experiencing significant physical and emotional pain, for hours. She should have needed Grief Seeds to get through it without her Soul Gem entering total darkness stage. MEGLR was standing by with Grief Seeds ready. But creator Amara's Soul Gem did not get cloudy at all. It glowed brightly the whole time. Her aura levels are at maximum, and her injuries from Gehðubled harvest are 100% healed."

Amara pauses thoughtfully, touching the skin around her eye. The bruising is gone. "I don't know. Either way..."

She turns towards the memorial shrine. Holding the feather between her palms, she gasshos and bows lightly. "See you soon, Gretchen Rainart," she whispers.

Then, followed by MEGLR, Alef perched on her shoulder nuzzling her neck, the Magical Girl returns to her airship. When she gets back to Solitas, she will go through the third and final phase of her technologically accelerated growth, and talk to some people she hasn't seen in too long.

"Alef. MEGLR. Let's go home."

She launches the ship, turns it Northward, and flies it into a sea of storm clouds reflecting Silver Moonlight.


End file.
